Historically the photovoltaic solar industry has sought to lower the price of solar-produced energy by focusing on improvement to the panels that harness sunlight.
A new startup company, based in Petaluma, California, is focusing, instead, on improving the rest of the solar system, specifically the inverters which convert a solar panel’s DC power to AC.
Enphase Energy, Inc. is developing and manufacturing micro-inverter based solar energy management systems. The company received a second round of funding this week from Third Point Ventures to the tune of $6.5 million.
Enphase says its system represents a paradigm shift in the solar market from central/string inverter-based systems to distributed Micro-Inverter-based systems.
"Enphase Energy marks the beginning of an industry-wide technology shift to Micro-Inverter systems and represents the next-generation of solar energy management" said Paul Nahi, President and CEO of Enphase."With the Enphase Micro-Inverter system, both commercial and residential customers will be able to increase their return on investment on their solar energy system."
Nahi added that the company’s systems increase energy harvest, increase system reliability, and simplify design, installation and management.
"Enphase Energy’s system harvests more solar energy and provides better management of solar panels than anything we’ve seen, which means better return on investment for its customers," said Robert Schwartz, Managing Director of Third Point Ventures.
The Enphase Micro-Inverter system is currently in beta testing and will be generally available in Q208, the company says.
About Enphase Energy
Founded in 2006, Enphase Energy provides solar energy management systems for residential and commercial markets. The company offers a networked system, which includes high-efficiency Micro-Inverters, communications and web-based analytics.
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